Chapter 114: Resolution of the Crisis
After clearing out the maternal relatives who had colluded with the loan shark Do Gwang-jo to start a rebellion, Ju So-ran seemed to have reported what had happened at the Baek Family Escort to Lady Woo.
This was because the gaze Lady Woo showed when we met in private was very troubled, unlike at first.
Should I say she seemed unable to find her bearings?
‘Since I demanded absolute obedience, it is understandable.’
Well, up to this point, it could be expected, but with Baek Mu-ho being included in the party, the situation became even more complicated.
Baek Mu-ho was the successor of the Baek Family Escort. No matter who looked at it, this was a sequence of events for the Baek Family Escort to merge with the Bright Fate Escort Agency.
From Lady Woo’s perspective, it was not unreasonable to worry that they might be swallowed up by the Baek Family Escort like this.
“You said you demanded absolute obedience.”
“Only in regard to martial arts.”
“Yes…”
I understood her worries, so I gave supplementary explanations, but her expression did not look convinced.
However, Lady Woo could not reject us.
Because we possessed the things that the Bright Fate Escort Agency needed right now.
Right now, the Bright Fate Escort Agency had to re-enter the industry carrying the most fatal bad reputation for an escort agency: total annihilation on an escort mission.
People’s prejudice is terrifying. In order to erase that prejudice and build trust anew, painstaking efforts were required.
Reclaiming lost trust was that difficult.
However, the presence of me or Baek Mu-ho could drastically shorten that period.
“I hope there will be good results for both sides.”
“For both sides… is it?”
Since I did not want strange misunderstandings to arise, I bared some of my inner thoughts.
“It is not something to speak about in detail, but I also came to teach martial arts because I have my own intentions. Naturally, I also do not wish for that time to become meaningless.”
“…”
In life, unconditional kindness is rare.
Bestowals without any recompense could only be received from parents.
Had they not almost been stabbed in the back by people who were supposedly blood relatives just now?
She must have imagined many things. And she must have worried as much as the number of those imaginations.
But at the words that I had my own purpose, Lady Woo’s expression became much more relaxed.
Thinking about it, another reason would be that there was no reason for the Baek Family Escort to covet the Bright Fate Escort Agency. If they wanted to take over Huihua County, it was as simple as establishing a branch office.
“I look forward to working with you.”
“Yes, I also look forward to working with you.”
In such a warm atmosphere, I was able to fully secure the right of absolute obedience that I had demanded of the Bright Fate Escort Agency.
Now, in regard to martial arts, everything was entirely up to my discretion.
‘Now I can run them to my heart’s content.’
Considering the level of training, I did not think this warm atmosphere would last forever.
Well, this is all for their own good. Hehehe.
***
The Bright Fate Escort Agency would also need time to sort things out and pull themselves together.
If an outsider suddenly barged in and demanded absolute obedience, backlash could occur, so prior explanation would be needed.
Thus, the full-scale activities began the next day.
Because about a day would be enough to sort things out to some extent.
When I went out to the training ground early in the morning, six people, including Myeong Il-seo, were lined up.
Excluding Myeong Il-seo, the oldest seemed to be in his early to mid-twenties? Unless his face looked older than his age, he was older than me.
“Yesterday was quite hectic, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, sir!”
But they were unhesitating. Absolute obedience was the basic premise anyway. Although I was not the type to speak informally from our first meeting, informal speech was unavoidable in order to teach martial arts.
Thus, when I spoke comfortably, a thunderous shout burst out as if they were receiving disciplinary training.
[These kids are completely frozen before even starting.]
[What they saw yesterday must have been quite shocking.]
‘Indeed.’
I briefly thought about my actions yesterday.
If there was a person who calmly broke people’s bones without any change in expression, and if such a person held the power over my life and death, even I would be scared.
“Shall I hear your names first?”
“I am Yi Gung!”
“I am Sam-mak!”
“I am Sa-jin!”
“I am O-seong!”
“I am Yuk-so!”
Their names were indeed consistent.
“Are you brothers?”
Their faces did not look that alike, though.
The one who answered was Escort Leader Myeong Il-seo.
“They are kids we took in with the intention of raising them as escort warriors. We just gave them nicknames according to the order they entered, and before we knew it, they came to be called by those names.”
“Ah…”
They must have taken in orphans.
If their original names symbolized the painful times when they lived with nowhere to lean, the nicknames given by the Bright Fate Escort Agency would have been hope for a bright future.
In a sense, they could be said to be lucky.
Because they had not been properly refined as escort warriors yet, they were unable to follow that escort mission and avoided the worst.
Perhaps the reason Escort Leader Myeong Il-seo could not turn a blind eye to the Bright Fate Escort Agency until the end was largely due to these kids.
After all, his name was ‘Il-seo’.
When they took these kids in at the Bright Fate Escort Agency, either Escort Leader Myeong Il-seo gave them nicknames, or they gave them nicknames based on Escort Leader Myeong Il-seo.
“It’s good that the names are easy to memorize.”
“Yes, we also like that part very much.”
Perhaps because he was affable, the one who introduced himself as Yi Gung replied with a grin.
Perhaps because he was like the eldest son among them, everyone else grinned along.
‘They’re tight.’
Their solidarity was good. They were like real brothers.
Brothers with deep brotherly love who did not let go of each other’s hands even in adversity.
‘I must teach them well.’
Because it would be an even more terrible thing if an empty space appeared between those sequentially arranged names.
“Have you learned any martial arts?”
Although I planned to teach them new martial arts anyway, I needed to grasp what level they were at.
Because painting on a completely blank sheet and touching something that already had a rough sketch drawn were entirely different stories.
In fact, a novice who had learned nothing was better. If they had learned the basics, that was a relief, but if they had bad habits, it could be more of a headache.
“Yes, we have learned.”
Everyone looked at Escort Leader Myeong Il-seo proudly as if by agreement.
[They’re like five ducklings.]
[Hahaha.]
Just as Master Zhang Sanfeng said, they looked like ducklings blindly following their mother.
Escort Leader Myeong Il-seo let out a deep sigh. Perhaps remembering the time I corrected his martial arts, his face was flushed red.
‘Since he said they planned to raise them as escort warriors, there’s no way they wouldn’t have learned martial arts.’
Still, since their martial arts were based on Escort Leader Myeong Il-seo’s, it was rather a relief.
Not only had I experienced correcting Escort Leader Myeong Il-seo’s martial arts once before, but since I had to refine Escort Leader Myeong Il-seo’s martial arts anyway, pushing them all together would reduce unnecessary waste of time.
‘If I just think of them as immature Escort Leader Myeong Il-seos, there’s no need to confirm their skills.’
Then the story was fast.
I just had to apply the plan I made to teach Escort Leader Myeong Il-seo.
‘First, while strengthening them with basic training, I will grasp the parts where each has talent and focus on teaching those parts.’
The martial arts I taught Escort Leader Myeong Il-seo had gone through Master Zhang Sanfeng’s hands. By that alone, the potential this martial art possessed was comparable to the absolute divine arts renowned under heaven.
But the direction of the Bright Fate Escort Agency that I thought of was to show the direction of martial arts.
If I was going to stop at transmitting the refined version of Myeong Il-seo’s martial arts, I wouldn’t have even started.
“I think I see the rough direction.”
Holding a wooden sword I had prepared in advance, I took a starting stance.
“Follow the martial arts I show you from now on. They are simple movements, so it won’t be difficult.”
After consulting with my masters, I displayed the refined training martial arts.
Sixteen movements of cutting and stabbing from basic stances were executed in a single flow.
To put it bluntly, they were extremely simple movements.
As expected, the gazes of the five duckling brothers of the Bright Fate Escort Agency, who had been watching with anticipation, cooled down.
“It doesn’t look hard…”
“It’s a bit… simple…”
“It’s lame.”
As expected, the reactions were not good.
[Does it bring back old memories?]
‘Don’t touch my bad memories.’
It seemed humans were all similar.
Because there was a time when I thought like that too.
“Does this look easy to you?”
“Yes.”
“Then try it. If anyone perfectly copies the movements I just did, that person will move on to the next step.”
At the carrot of the next step, the five ducklings’ eyes flashed in unison.
“That much is easy!”
“Since we have a long way to go, let’s quickly get through the easy parts!”
And then they displayed the movements I had just shown as if to show off.
The five ducks, who quickly finished the sixteen movements, raised their chins triumphantly.
I let out a sigh and evaluated.
“Everyone failed.”
“Eh?”
“We did it exactly the same, though?”
The five ducks knitted their brows as if they could not understand.
“I clearly told you to copy it ‘perfectly’.”
“Perfect…?”
“None of you executed even one of the sixteen movements perfectly. The angle of swinging the sword was different, and the position and rotation of the waist were wrong. Not to mention the stride, the breathing did not match, and you could not stop when you had to stop.”
Only now understanding the standard of perfection I demanded, the faces of the five duckling brothers stiffened.
“That’s… a bit… unreasonable…”
“You said they were simple movements? If you can’t even execute those simple movements perfectly, with what talent are you going to learn martial arts?”
“…”
The kids who were about to make excuses shut their mouths without a word.
“Today, focus on learning the movements. And starting tomorrow, practice them repeatedly. Do just this much.”
I held up three fingers.
The faces of the five duckling brothers turned pale.
“Ack!?”
“We have to do the sixteen movements… three hundred times?”
“Are you joking? It’s three thousand times.”
“…”
Clatter!
Perhaps it was quite a shock, as the sound of a weapon falling to the ground was heard.
Since it was an amount that was not easy even if they spent the whole day on it, it was worth being surprised.
“I do not know if it is possible, but I will… guide them well.”
Escort Leader Myeong Il-seo also seemed surprised by the monstrous number of repetitions, as he stammered while trying to manage the five ducklings.
“Why are you speaking as if it’s someone else’s business?”
“Huh?”
“You have to do it too. Three thousand times.”
“…”
That gentleman seemed to have thought he was in the position of an instructor helping to correct stances and assisting me. At the words that he was also included, sweat suddenly trickled down Escort Leader Myeong Il-seo’s face.
There was a reason I demanded absolute obedience as a condition of cooperating with the Bright Fate Escort Agency.
‘What kind of expression will Ju So-ran make?’
Imagining what kind of expression Ju So-ran, who was currently with Baek Mu-ho for handover issues, would make when she came here to train, I secretly smiled.
“…So this is the pleasure of being a master.”
[…Did we laugh like that?]
[…Hahaha.]
Hehehe.